Tire Clearance

I am just getting into offroading so please bare with me. I am very interested in joining and hitting up Moab and Tellico within the next couple of years. So here we go... I have an 85 Cherokee and was looking into buying a set of Goodyear's MT/Rs. Quadratec has the LT235/75R15 for a good price but will they fit my stock Cherokee, without serious rubbing on rough terrain?
And if they do what tire do you recommened on the stock Cherokee for highway/muddy & rocky terrain.

Thanks

You should be fine with 235/75R15s on a stock XJ. Those come out to about 29 inches, and people regularly run 30x9.5s with a stock suspension. If you're really worried about rubbing, just make sure that your bumpstops are in good shape (I don't know about Wyoming, but in my neck of the woods they tend to disintegrate).

Welcome to the forums!

I've got 235/75's on my stock suspension. My rear leafs are sagging very badly too (read: on the verge of frowning). Here's some pics of mine. I run Wild Spirit Radial DTX's. They are great on the road, dirt and snow. Very decent in mud and ice.

Mambeu said:

Welcome to the forums!

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Hey, thanks!

Thats good news, I really didn't want to put a lift on it... I might this winter but I have heard nothing but bad new about lift kits so Im still not to sure.

If I did put a lift on I would go with the RE 4.5 or the RE 5.5 with 33" tires
RE HD-SYE & RE driveshaft. Would I need anything else?

Thanks Again

I have the RE 4.5 with SYE and 32" tires on stock wheels... It rides and handles great, smoother than stock on the highway... I love it, and it performs awesome off road... Most people only go with 31" tires with the lift, but I have found on the stock wheels, they tuck so nicely that I didn't have to trim but a very small amount in the front... Keep in mind though, if you want wider offset wheels, you will be trimming more. You hear alot about "death wobble",, bunp steer, and other issues after a lift. In reality, some of those problems would have happened anyway "AND", on here you read about the 100 people with issues, but you don't always see the 1000 people that love their XJ even after lifting it.

Bottom Line: You can go with a 2"-4.5" lift and 31" tires fairly easily and still maintain all good handling characteristics if done with quality parts.

If you were going to invest the money in a lift, tires, which leads to gears and lockerse..

it might be a wise investment to find a slighly newer XJ with a 4.0, the 85's had that v6 that just doesnt take the abuse you will give it.

Granted, you can swap the moter out for something newer, or move your upgrades to a new jeep later .. but its alot of extra work either way.

Oops, lol I meant I had an 89 cherokee (as stated in my name) I was a little tired when I wrote that post… sorry. I am actually just finishing up a new engine rebuild, so the jeep will have the 4.0. The last engine threw a rod at 200k, (that was before it was mine) other than that the jeep has been very well taken care of.

Thats entirly different. If its a renix 4.0, get the RE 5.5 lift with drop brackets or longarms, and you will not regret it..

My BigO 235x75R15s were about 28" in diameter and fit fine on my 95.